FRAGILITY
Daye Kim
United Kingdom

Sibling relationships exist at the fragile intersection of intimacy and distance. Derived from sib (kinship) and sibja (blood + « one’s own »), « sibling » embodies a paradox: they are extensions of ourselves yet wholly separate. This creates permeable boundaries where love and rivalry, cooperation and competition flow together.
Inspired by rings in « Portrait of Gabrielle d’Estrées and Her Sister, » I use 3D modelling to transform this motif into extreme variations of forms that evolve and distort, mirroring sibling dynamics. Two interconnected rings create a single structure, requiring wearers to negotiate proximity and dependence.
Clear resin casting builds translucent layers where emotions accumulate: affection beneath resentment, loyalty alongside jealousy. Airbrushed colour penetrates transparent surfaces, revealing how feelings stain relationships. The material’s fragility (vulnerability to scratches and yellowing) embodies these precarious bonds.
When worn, the jewellery enforces closeness while revealing constraint. Wearers synchronise movement, acknowledge dependence. The piece becomes a lived diagram: connections that sustain yet restrict, boundaries that protect yet isolate.

Brooch « This relationship is », 2025
37.27 x 37.08 x 42.44 (W x H x D) mm / 5.5 gr
Sterling silver, Clear crystal glass resin
3D programming, airbrush colouring, and silversmithing.

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Jeanne-Sophie Aas / Norway

FRAGILITYJeanne-Sophie AasNorwayControlling fragility is the core of my practice. Working with glass feels like a relationship: a cooperation where we both have needs and limits. We discover and grow together, but we are also able to hurt each other. Hot glass needs...

Fragility – Saerom Kong / South Korea

FRAGILITYSaerom KongSouth KoreaRice is small and firm, yet fragile. I was drawn to this contradiction and chose rice as the material for my jewelry. Placed upon metal, the grains transform with time and environment, carrying traces of impermanence, life, and memory....

Fragility – Victoria Kurasheva / Norway

FRAGILITYVictoria KurashevaNorway This piece reflects the fragility of infancy and the silent fear of motherhood. A transparent infant, cast in glass-like acrylic and filled halfway with blood, connected to the woman’s hand by an invisible bond. The blood is not the...

Fragility – Aimee Howard-Clinger / USA

FRAGILITYAimee Howard-ClingerUnited StatesFragments explores the fragility of culture and identity amid the fractures of political unrest. In recent years, escalating intolerance and prejudice—expressed through divisive rhetoric and acts of violence—have revealed how...

Fragility – Alissa Goble / USA

FRAGILITYAlissa GobleUnited StatesObjects have a way of holding stories, carrying traces of memory, family, and identity. I’m drawn to the quiet power of the things we keep close and how they connect us to the past. Through crochet and metalsmithing, I use making as a...

Fragility – Juan Harnie / Belgium

FRAGILITYJuan HarnieBelgiumAs a child, I watched my mother repair our worn clothes. My small hands would clumsily try to help, threading needles or guiding the iron. These moments were never about perfection, but about connection. Each patch, each stitch was an act of...

Fragility – Katerina Jirsova / Czech Republic

FRAGILITYKaterina JirsovaCzech RepublicThese necklaces continue my ongoing exploration of the dialogue between the body, the object, and the space we inhabit. Crafted from white chalk, they carry the qualities of softness, fragility, and impermanence – a material that...

Fragility – Deganit S. Shocken / Israel

FRAGILITYDeganit S. SchockenIsraelAgonies of Peace Soup Spoon, Pendant Once a vessel of care and nourishment, the soup spoon is here hollowed out, its bowl carved in negative with the word peace in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Transformed into a pendant, it can no...

Fragility – Niyousha Moosavi / Germany

FRAGILITYNiyousha MoosaviGermanyI see jewelry as a transitional object that carries personal meaning and embodies emotional and psychological connections. This psychosomatic collection emerged from a personal experience, a time when my body began to swell for no...

Fragility – Barbara Schwager / Switzerland

FRAGILITY Barbara SchwagerSwitzerlandFragile Moods Moods come and go. They are subject to fluctuations and external influences. We cannot always control them in our favour—in other words, “just be happy.” Only we ourselves know how we feel—and often we have to present...